Chicken sandwiches linked to listeria hospital deaths, inquest concludes

Two women died after eating chicken mayo sandwiches fed to them in hospital and contaminated with listeria, an inquest has concluded.

Retired Jamaican nurse Beverley Sowah, 57, and mother-of-five Enid Heap, 84, were given them on successive days while patients at Manchester Royal Infirmary in 2019.

Both women, who had underlying health problems, died within days.

The findings follow a five-day joint inquest at Manchester Coroner's Court.

Their deaths were among seven fatalities, part of a nationwide alert over the listeria outbreak which affected nine people in all in other hospitals, including in Liverpool, Leicester and Derby.

The jury concluded the bacteria entered the food chain at cooked meat processing firm North Country Quality Foods in Salford, Greater Manchester.

They supplied the contaminated chicken to sandwich-making firm the Good Food Chain, based in Stone, Staffordshire, which used it to produce chicken mayo sandwiches.

These were then supplied to Sodexo, who were contracted to supply the NHS trust running the hospital, and the sandwiches were fed to Mrs Sowah and Mrs Heap.

Both women acquired listeria from the contaminated food which more than minimally contributed to their deaths, jurors found.

Mrs Sowah was admitted to the hospital on 15 April for treatment for advanced breast cancer. Two days later she was given the chicken mayo sandwich and died on 26 April.

Mrs Heap, a retired chemist shop assistant, was admitted on 25 March and was served the same type of sandwich on 18 April, she died on 6 May.

Listeria is a bacteria that can cause an illness called listeriosis, which can be fatal for people with weakened immune systems, including the elderly, sick or children.

There are safe levels of listeria and it is a widespread, common bacteria with various different strains, with the legal limit of 100 cfu/g (colony-forming units per gram), the inquest heard.

Public health officials investigating the deaths tested the levels of listeria in a sealed bag of diced chicken supplied from North Country Quality Foods.

They discovered an "unprecedented high level" of the same strain of listeria involved in the outbreak, which came out as 1000 cfu/g, 10 times the legal limit.

Alistair Heap, Mrs Heap's son, said her family were grateful to know the sequence of events that led to her death.

Their grief was "exacerbated" when they were told her death was linked to listeria reported to have come from a sandwich she ate while in hospital.

He added: "We are also grateful that the case has highlighted the importance that businesses involved in food processing should maintain a strict standard of care and be subject to rigorous testing when supplying foods to the public, particularly to vulnerable groups in hospital environments."

After the inquest concluded Manchester city coroner Zak Golombeck told the families: "I hope in time you can all remember your loved ones for the happy memories that you all spent together."

Both meat supplier and sandwich maker firms have since gone into liquidation.

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